MR. McCLELLAN: Good morning, everybody. Happy Friday, happy four
days before the election to everybody.

Let me talk a little bit about the first event. The President does
have a new speech, it is a unique speech. The President will be
talking about our strategy to win the war on terrorism, and he will
talk about where we get our strength and resolve to prevail. He'll
talk about what inspires us as a nation. And in the speech he will
reflect on experience and moments that we have shared during this time
of challenge. He'll really be speaking to the character of our nation
and the leadership needed to see us through to victory.

And he'll be talking about people that he's met and how they have
inspired us as a nation, and inspired him as a leader. There are going
to be some families of victims of September 11th that will be in
attendance. These are some of the people that are scheduled to be in
attendance: David Beamer, the father of Todd Beamer, who was on board
American Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania; Jimmy
Boyle, the father of Michael Boyle, who was a firefighter who gave his
life at the World Trade Center; Arlene Howard, the mother of George
Howard, who was the Port Authority Officer killed at the World Trade
Center, whose badge she gave to the President; Cheryl McGuinness, the
wife of Tom McGuinness, one of the pilots of American Airlines Flight
11, which crashed into the World Trade Center.

So that's what he'll be focusing on in his first speech today. And
those are some of the individuals; we can get you other individuals
that will be there as well, that will be present.

Q Pretty clearly here the approach over this last several days
is to talk about issues involving security, it's a dominant theme in
the stump speech we heard yesterday, it's the focus today. Does the
President think that's a winning strategy in persuading undecided
voters to --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the number one priority for the President is
the safety and security of the American people. It is the most solemn
obligation a President has. And we have faced some real challenges
together over the course of the last four years; and together we are
overcoming those challenges. And that's why he'll talk about some of
these examples in his remarks of those who inspire us and give us the
strength and resolve to see this war on terrorism through to victory.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention, he taped his radio address
before he left and had his usual briefings this morning. The radio
address will really focus on the big choices facing the American people
on Tuesday. And, obviously, the war on terrorism is first and
foremost.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, obviously, Curt Schilling put out a statement.
We greatly appreciate his strong support for the President and wish him
the best. I mean, in his statement he cited some of his orders from
his doctor about his injury.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I mean, one, you ought to talk to the
Department of Justice or the FBI about any specific matters they're
looking into, because I don't have knowledge of those issues. But let
me just say a couple of things.

One, the Department of Defense has the responsibility for these
contracting matters. There are clear guidelines and procedures in
place when it comes to contracts. And if there is wrongdoing, the
President expects it to be investigated fully and dealt with.

Q I'm asking you about the political timing. Is the President
concerned this comes four days before the election?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know that -- I know you all always look at
it in that context. I'm not -- that's not the way I'm looking at
this. That's why I pointed out what I just did. I mean that, one,
these are contracting matters that are the responsibility of the
Department of Defense. The President has always said if there is
wrongdoing involved, he expects it to be pursued to the fullest. And
that's what we've made clear previously and that's what I'm making
clear again today.

Q Point taken. You were less than thrilled about the timing of
The New York Times story.

MR. McCLELLAN: The American people -- we have great faith in the
American people to see through all the issues that are out there and
make the right decision.

Q ABC ran some tape of the seals still being on that bunker
when U.S. troops got there, suggesting the explosives were still in
there. What do you think?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think, you know, it's premature to draw
conclusions because the facts are not known. We seized or destroyed --
our troops seized or destroyed already more than 400,000 tons of
munitions. Securing and destroying these kind of munitions was a
priority for our troops. The Department of Defense released a
satellite image showing trucks at the facility within days after the
inspectors left. That shows that there was activity going on there in
early March.

It's not known what kind of explosives these were that you were
talking about. It's a real possibility that these munitions were -- or
these explosives were part of the munitions that were destroyed. The
facts are not known. And as the President said, in Ms. Keen's
interview with him yesterday, he said, Senator Kerry has shown that he
will attack for political gain, without knowing the facts. He puts
politics above the facts. And it is irresponsible for Senator Kerry to
draw conclusions without knowing the facts. These are wild accusations
that he has made, and they just demonstrate that he will say anything
for his own political advantage.

Q What part of the --

MR. McCLELLAN: I mean, you have --

Q Were these munitions that were destroyed by U.S. troops? Is
that what you're saying? Or U.S. forces, these munitions were
destroyed --

MR. McCLELLAN: That's a real possibility. We don't know the
facts. There is new information that has come to light in recent days
and continues to come to light. But the facts are still not know.

Q There are facts known now, which is that these pictures show
IAEA-sealed explosives. The IAEA people say that they only sealed HMX,
and that these look like their seals. So will the President
acknowledge those facts?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think others have suggested that it does not
appear to be HMX.

Q Who?

MR. McCLELLAN: So it's not clear what the facts are. Just some of
the media coverage. I can go back and look at some of the media
coverage. But you have some experts questioning this whole issue,
because as I said, we've seized or destroyed more than 400,000 tons of
munitions. That shows that securing and destroying these munitions was
a priority for our troops. You have experts saying that this issue is
"absurd," or "bogus." Yet Senator Kerry is the one who is jumping to
conclusions without knowing the facts. And I think that's a real issue
in this campaign --

Q Does the President believe this is absurd and bogus?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- a real issue in this campaign. And in terms of
the video that you're referencing, again, it's a very real possibility
that those explosives could have been part of what was destroyed by our
troops, because we know that our troops made it a priority because of
how much they have already destroyed. They've destroyed a large volume
of munitions since the beginning of the war in Iraq. I think that you
are looking at -- you're trying to attempt to draw some conclusions
based on this videotape, and I'm not sure that you can draw those
conclusions from that videotape.

Q Does the President believe this issue is absurd and bogus?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I was pointing out -- I mean, I was pointing
out that people were saying that the facts are not known, and that you
have to look at the facts -- there's a wild charge been made here that
it wasn't a priority for our military. It was a priority for our
military to secure and destroy munitions, and that is documented by the
fact that they have already destroyed or secured more than 400,000 tons
of munitions.

Q And you're suggesting that the munitions -- that the high
explosives tagged by the IAEA that have been photographed as having
been there when the 101st arrived could then have been destroyed by
American troops?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think that's a real possibility. We don't know
the facts. There is new information still coming to light, but we
still don't know all the facts. And for someone to draw conclusions
without knowing the facts, it shows their reckless disregard. It shows
their reckless disregard.

Q Scott, the Pentagon has said that they're looking into this
matter. Do you have any sense of the time line and when they might be
able to come forward with some conclusions?

MR. McCLELLAN: I know they've continued to look into the matter.
That's why they put out the image from the satellite photo yesterday of
the trucks that were at the facility just after the inspectors left.
And that shows that there was activity going on there. Ambassador
Bremer was on the "Today Show" this morning, and he talked about how
it's premature to draw conclusions. The facts are not known. And he
pointed out how after the troops were already there, to move such a
large quantity of explosives would have taken scores of trucks. And
there have been no reports that any such activity was seen.

Q The former chief weapons inspector, David Kay, said that, to
him, it looked like that white powder was HMX. Are you disagreeing
with his assessment?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think there's others that have said they're not
sure what's in those boxes. It's not clear, it's not clear what's in
those boxes. And there are others that question what's in those
boxes. But, regardless, it also --

Q I'm sorry, who questioned that?

MR. McCLELLAN: I've seen some of the media reporting, and I'll go
back and look at the media reporting and pull that for you.* And the
military, I mean, they haven't said that it's clear what was in those
boxes, other than it's some type of explosives. But it leads to the
possibility, if our troops were there and found those munitions, it's
certainly a possibility that those munitions were part of what was
destroyed, because we know that they destroyed a large volume of
munitions that they found in Iraq at the -- these munitions were spread
throughout the country.

Q Did they keep records of --

MR. McCLELLAN: Now you're drawing conclusions without knowing all
the facts, and I don't think you can do that.

Q I'm saying David Kay reached the conclusion.

MR. McCLELLAN: That's what I'm saying. You cannot draw the
conclusions without knowing all the facts, and the facts are still
unclear.

Q Wouldn't we stipulate that David Kay is not just some casual
observer, but somebody who actually knows intimately about operations
on the ground, particularly during the time --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Ambassador Bremer is someone who knew about
operations on the ground as well, because he was --

Q Was he conducting weapons inspections?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- he was there, and he was very well aware of what
was going on there. Our military was very well aware of that, and they
have not come out -- the military has not been able to confirm what,
exactly, this video shows.

Q One quick question. The President -- does the President want
to see Israel guarantee Arafat's return after he is treated in Paris?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I mean, right now, I think that -- you know,
our focus has been on making sure he gets the medical care he needs. I
mean, we want to make sure that he gets the medical care he needs.
Obviously, the President expressed our concern for his health. I don't
know that that's been an issue that's been raised by Israel at this
point, publicly. I haven't heard that. I mean, I'll be glad to look
into it if they --

Q What about the United States government?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think the first thing right now is that he's
getting the medical attention that he needs. And that's we'll continue
to monitor the situation. If there's -- if something comes to light
like that, we'll talk about it at that point.

Q Scott, very quickly, on the tone of the speech today, are we
entering a period where the President is trying to take the volume
down, ask Americans to be a little more reflective, and does that hold
through election day now?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I wouldn't necessarily say that. I mean, he'll
continue to talk about the clear choices. I'm just saying that this
speech is -- it's a new one, it's different from some of the ones
you've heard recently, and that the focus is on really what I said, not
on Senator Kerry.

Q We had a 3.7 percent growth number, lower than the 4.2
forecast. No doubt the other side is going to seize on that as
evidence that your policies haven't worked.

MR. McCLELLAN: What, the economy is growing, and that it's higher
than it was the previous quarter? The economy -- today's numbers are
another indication that the economy is moving forward and continues to
grow stronger. The pro-growth policies that this President has pursued
are working. And the last thing we need to do is turn away from those
policies and raise taxes. That would stifle economic growth and job
creation that we're seeing.

More than 1.9 million jobs created over the last year, an
unemployment rate that is below the '70s, '80s and '90s; is down to 5.4
percent. There's more to do to keep our economy growing. We're in a
changing economy and we need to make sure workers have the skills to
fill the high-growth, high-paying jobs that are being created. And we
need to continue to pursue the pro-growth policies that the President
has outlined.

THE PRESS: Thank you.

MR. McCLELLAN: Thanks.

END 10:16 A.M. EDT

CNN reported, "'That's either HMX or RDX,' Kay said, referring to
the types of explosives. 'I don't know of anything else in al
Qaqaa that was in that form.'"
"But Michael Lysobey, a former U.N. weapons inspector, said it was
unclear from the videotape whether the barrels contained the high-grade
explosives."